Asia stocks set to track soft Wall Street lead amid pandemic worries
Asian stocks were set to come under pressure on Thursday as downbeat economic data pushed investors to safe havens and growing worries about falling demand sent oil prices lower.
Asian stocks were set to come under pressure on Thursday as downbeat economic data pushed investors to safe havens and growing worries about falling demand sent oil prices lower.
U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co's two ventures in China have reported year-on-year sales growth for April, indicating the world's biggest auto market has started its recovery from coronavirus-induced lows.
The United States has reached a settlement to recover more than $49 million involving Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, the Department of Justice said.
U.S. budget carrier Frontier Airlines withdrew on Wednesday a "More Room" policy that would have given passengers the option of paying extra to keep the middle seat empty on flights after a backlash from politicians, according to a letter to lawmakers seen by Reuters.
Asian shares pared early losses on Thursday after Chinese exports proved far stronger than even bulls had imagined, while U.S. bond investors were still daunted by the staggering amount of new debt set to be sold in coming weeks.
The British units of Liberty Global Plc and Telefónica SA will merge in a deal worth 24 billion pounds ($29.57 billion), the Financial Times reported https://www.ft.com/content/2b73a385-7218-47dc-83bf-18e6e3d5f8f4 on Thursday.
Smithfield Foods Inc will restart its plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota from May 7 after being idled for more than three weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak, the world's biggest pork processor said late on Wednesday.
BMW AG on Wednesday reported a 133% rise in first-quarter operating profit, due to the absence of a one-off provision in the year-earlier period, but said the impact of the coronavirus could erode demand and profit.
Investors want to know what kind of economic hit General Motors Co expects from the coronavirus pandemic as it moves forward, whether it needs to raise further cash and when North American vehicle production will resume when it reports first-quarter results on Wednesday.
Yum China is betting that Chinese consumers will still choose to dine-in in the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis and plans to open more Pizza Hut and KFC outlets in China's smaller cities in the coming months, its chief executive said.
Virgin Money swung to a first-half loss after setting aside 237 million pounds ($294.7 million) to handle loans likely to turn sour as a result of the coronavirus crisis. The bank, which became the UK's sixth-largest lender following a merger with CYBG, reported a pre-tax loss of 4 million pounds for the six months ended March 31, compared to a 50 million pounds profit a year earlier.
Britain's Metro Bank reported a modest dip in lending in the first quarter and a 77 million pounds rise in total deposits to 14.6 billion pounds ($18.15 billion) as customers shrugged off lower fixed term deposit rates.
Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris said he would buy airlines, going against fellow billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who announced that Berkshire Hathaway sold all airline stocks at the firm's annual meeting on Saturday.
BMW AG on Wednesday said the impact of the coronavirus will likely hurt demand and profit throughout the year, forcing the German automaker to lower its profit outlook for passenger cars following a slowdown in first-quarter deliveries.
The founder of activist investment company Amber Capital, which lost out this week in a bid to shake up the governance at French group Lagardere , said on Wednesday he had no plans to exit his stake in Lagardere and added that he could even raise it.